1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to the field of electronic display systems including input means, wherein a game is displayed on a video screen. More particularly, the invention concerns an electronic promotional game system having a processor controlling a presentation on a display, wherein the image of a promotional game card having a concealed indicia is displayed and, in conjunction with an input means coupled to the processor, a player can cause the concealing layer to be "rubbed off" to reveal the indicia.
2. Prior Art
Games involving forms having indicia concealed under an opaque layer which can be rubbed off by the player are known for use by merchants as promotional items. These games increase consumer purchases and generate consumer product awareness which leads to increased sales. The promotional rub off games typically provide a card or ticket made of paper or card stock, with indicia indicating a winning ticket printed on the ticket, perhaps under a release layer of varnish. At least one, and possibly a number of selection areas bearing the indicia are covered with a removable opaque material such as a rubberized paint. A game participant, typically a consumer who purchases a specified product or visits a participating retailer, is given one of the game cards. Neither the issuing retailer nor the customer can distinguish a winning game card from others until the concealing layer is removed. The participant removes the opaque material from one or more of the selection areas according to the promotional game instructions, typically by rubbing the selection area with the edge of a coin or other hard object, to reveal the underlying indicia. Losing tickets are discarded. Winning tickets are presented by the participant to the retailer when claiming the indicated prize, usually a product which the retailer wishes to promote, but also possibly a cash prize or the like.
The concealed indicia may designate prizes which are awarded immediately, or may designate an award in cash or other prizes after mailing in a winning ticket. Generally, an assortment of individual tickets are produced, bearing different symbols or sets of symbols hidden in their selection areas. However, each participant has an equal chance of winning a prize because the game tickets are distributed randomly and the symbols indicating the prizes cannot be observed until the opaque material has been removed from the selection areas. Such promotional games can generate substantial excitement, particularly where the at least one of the many game cards issued designates a very valuable prize, and the issuing retailer makes this known by advertising. From the retailer's standpoint, the object of such games is to bring consumers into the store, and to promote the sale of products by giving customers the chance to sample products designated on winning tickets.
It would be desirable for a manufacturer or retailer to be able to vary the character of a promotional game of this type, without the substantial pre-planning which would be necessary to arrange for different supplies of concealed-indicia tickets. For example, a retailer may wish to promote different products at different times by awarding them as prizes. Another possibility is to vary the odds of winning a prize or the value of the prize, based upon the type and/or value of products purchased by a consumer, thereby providing additional incentive for customers to make purchases which are relatively more profitable to the retailer. Heretofore, it may have been possible to produce different sets of tickets which award different products or other prizes. However, this is unwieldy. A method or apparatus for varying the prizes and/or the odds of winning a prize based upon a specific consumer's purchase has not been possible because the indicia designating winners is, by definition, concealed. It is not possible to selectively distribute game tickets when the winning tickets are concealed and randomly distributed in a group of tickets.
It would be possible to label the tickets in a concealed-indicia game with some visible indication of the value of the ticket (or at least the potential value if the ticket is a winner), allowing the more valuable tickets to be distributed selectively. However, the labelling technique would likely become general knowledge. The label would take much of the excitement out of the game in that persons with tickets which lacked the indication of value would have no hope of winning the "big prize". Even if the labelling technique did not become generally known, unscrupulous clerks who were aware of the technique could identify the more valuable tickets and would have an incentive to distribute them to favored persons or in a manner which was not strictly related to the value of a customer's purchase. If the variable pay-back (e.g., odds or prize value) were to include a plurality of levels, the labelling technique could be complex and confusing, particularly as it would theoretically be arranged so as to be difficult for a consumer to discern. Therefore, a variable pay-back game of this type has not been possible or practical.
The present invention overcomes these problems by providing an electronic promotional game which simulates a rub-off game card, permitting the indicia behind the concealing layer to be varied via software. The invention displays the image of a concealed-indicia game card on a video screen and has input means controlled by the participant such that the participant can electronically erase the image of concealing "opaque" layer to reveal the indicia on the simulated game card. The promotional game is preferably coupled to a checkout terminal or product code scanner which determines the particular products purchased and/or the dollar value of purchases by a consumer. The award indicia on the game card displayed to the consumer thereby can be varied to change the prizes or the odds of winning a prize based upon the particular products purchased, the value of a purchase, or even the buying history of the particular consumer who may be identified by means of an account number, money-access card or the like. Whereas the tickets are generated and varied among customers via programming, it is also readily possible to change the character of the prizes, to enable the merchant to promote different products at different times, and otherwise to operate a versatile promotional program, with none of the drawbacks of known rub-off games as discussed above, and with even more of their benefits.